Umatilla
Indians fishing at Celilo Falls, on the Columbia River.
Photo was taken by Colby Clarence in 1956 or 1957, before
the Dalles Dam was built.
Courtesy of University of Washington Libraries, Northwest
Museum of Arts and Culture; L95-66.1

Petowya,
Cayuse woman who saw Lewis and Clark in 1806,
when she was 15 years old. She lived to be 111 years
old, and passed away in 1902.
Photo courtesy University of Montana, Mansfield Library
Photo Archives (Elrod collection #81-450). Photo taken
by Morton J. Elrod.

"Those people respect the aged with
veneration, I observed an old woman in
one of the Lodges which I entered She
was entirely blind as I was informed by
Signs, had lived more than 100 win­ters,
She occupied the best position in the
house, and when She Spoke great attention
was paid to what She Said"

-Wm. Clark, October
17, 1805

Fishing

The following text is from an exhibit
at Tamástslikt Cultural Institute:

"The Law of the Salmon - Our ancient
laws say that when the human and
natural world are in conflict the
living beings of the earth will begin
to fade. Water was sacred and precious.

"The Natítayt believed
that every stream, river, and lake
sustained the ecological balance
of the land. Of all the water life,
salmon was the most important. In
trade, salmon strengthened the relations
among the people. In ceremony, salmon
unified The People in life renewal.

"The Natítayt (The People) believed
that a protective spirit governed the
animal world. In reverence, our hunters
ritually cleansed themselves many days
before the hunt. In this way, a hunter
lived a clean and humane life. Our survival
required a close relationship with the
animal world. Rabbits, deer, antelope,
elk, bear, bighorn sheep, and buffalo
gave our people essential food, clothing,
and raw material for tools" (TCI).

"The journals of the expedition comprehensively
document our fishing practices, our numerous
tule mat lodge villages, our vast horse
herds, and our games of chance and skill.
We have used games and gambling to redistribute
wealth for centuries if not millennia.
There is an uninterrupted continuum present
in the mid-Columbia region in our culture
and people" (Conner: 2001).

Umatilla
tribal members' modern hand game demonstration teaches
the rudiments of a game documented in the Lewis and
Clark expedition journals.

Courtesy
of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute.

Courtesy
of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute.

Courtesy
of the Tamástslikt Cultural Institute.

Hand bone
or stick games have been a means of redistributing wealth
in the
Columbia Plateau for millenia.
Maj. Lee Moorhouse. PH 36, Special Collections &
University Archives, University of Oregon, M5124.

Tule Gathering

Courtesy
of Tamástslikt Cultural Institute.

These three things are still part of the community
today, evidence that cultural continuity is
strong.